Asymmetric bipolar membrane electrodialysis for acid and base production

Abstract Bipolar membrane electrodialysis (BMED) is a promising technique for upgrading traditional manufacturing procedures and achieving a circular economy. However, the industrial applications of BMED technology have been restricted by the large consumption of expensive bipolar membranes and the unmatching behavior between water splitting and ion migration. Herein, we proposed a novel asymmetric bipolar membrane electrodialysis (ABMED) to regulate the water splitting in the bipolar membrane and orientational ion migration in the electrodialysis (ED). It was found that the ABMED exhibited comparable performances to BMED for acid/base production when the area of the bipolar membrane was reduced to 50% of the monopolar membrane. The total process cost of ABMED was 0.78 $/kg NaOH, which is 21% lower than the BMED process. The asymmetric membrane design was capable to boost the water splitting in the bipolar membrane and to eliminate the concentration polarization in the ED process.